What America Has Done (Was the election about racial equality or the right to life?)

CE ^ | November 7, 2008 | Mary Kochan

[Salvation]

What America Has Done

November 7th, 2008 by Mary Kochan

I have been wounded in my heart by the election results to a degree that truly amazes me.  There is the kind of pain in my heart that comes from a deep sense of betrayal.  I know that a majority of my fellow Americans have never been, and are not now, anywhere near believing in the unlimited abortion license vocally supported by the president-elect during his campaign. I know that Barack Obama won the votes of Catholics who are not at all in favor of his abortion policies and that he won in spite of those policies, not because of them.  Still the feeling that my heart has been pierced by betrayal has been acute.

It isn’t just the work, the hours, the energy and words expended. It is that I long with all my heart for my country’s promise to respect the inalienable right to life of all human beings to come true.  Anything that pushes the hope of seeing that further away, hurts.

My daughter, a Marine, called me on Thursday echoing the deep sense of disappointment I felt.  And that got me to thinking about this in another way.  You see, my daughter is of mixed race, like Barack Obama.  Obama has identified himself as a black American and black Americans, have embraced him as one of their own. My daughter, however, is a very strong social conservative (go figure) and was a supporter of McCain.  Perhaps more pertinent, though, than her politics is her life experience.  She has never suffered on account of being “black;” no doors that she knows of have ever been slammed in her face on account of her race.  With a winning personality, fully accepted, and always popular with her peers of all colors, her experiences with “white America” have been positive.  Neither of her own parents have ever shared “war stories” about racism with her – we really didn’t have any.  And “civil rights,” when it enters our family discourse, has always been about the unborn, never about the struggle for racial equality.  In short, her heart is not wounded by racism.

But let’s face it.  That is simply not the case for millions of our brothers and sisters of color in this country.  For them, racism has been a fact of life, if not in personal experience, then in their family histories.  They have lived or are living an experience — or at least within a story — of betrayal.  They have longed and struggled for the day when, as Martin Luther King, Jr. put it, America would be “a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”  To them, the election of Barack Obama, self-identified as one of them, is a shining beacon of hope that they will see that dream of America fulfilled.  And putting other issues aside for the moment, the election of Barack Obama is historic in racial terms and positive when considered in that light.

So what do we, who fought so hard under the conviction that this election was crucial for the lives of the unborn, do now with the pain that we feel at losing, with this wound of betrayal in our hearts?  I think we need to take our experience of pain and use it to empathize in a profound way with those for whom this election was a moment of healing, a moment of triumph, a moment when the promise of America seemed etched in gold.  We need to empathize with those whose tears of gratitude streamed down their face that they lived to see the day that a black man was elected president.  That is not nothing.  It is, in fact, a great thing.

 

© Copyright 2008 Catholic Exchange

Mary Kochan, Senior Editor of Catholic Exchange, writes from Douglasville, Georgia. Her lectures are available from Saint Joseph Communications.

[21twelve]

“To them, the election of Barack Obama, self-identified as one of them, is a shining beacon of hope.....the election of Barack Obama is historic in racial terms and positive when considered in that light.

.....I think we need to take our experience of pain and use it to empathize in a profound way with those for whom this election was a moment of healing, a moment of triumph, a moment when the promise of America seemed etched in gold. That is not nothing. It is, in fact, a great thing.”

* * * * *

There was a Freeper that said something like “the only good thing about Obama is the color of his skin”. I would agree with that. His attitudes towards whites, this country, etc. are horribly wrong.

In the excerpt above, although she does not say it, what I got out of it is that those who have fought so long against abortion and other liberal ideas can empathize with these folks who have fought so hard for their cause of racial equality but never quite made it, until now. (In my mind it happened long ago, and perhaps reared its ugly head in my community more now due to Obama’s campaign - sad really.)

Not that a President Obama will be the defining moment of racial equality in their minds, but one large step. (Reparation money I’m sure would go a ways in further “creating equality”).

But I digress.

The thing that I take away is that if I can empathize in their joy (just a little), I can also see that some day down the road there might be a day when abortion and communism isn’t the law of the land. Some day, after these Dark Years (TM) have passed.

Also as I share their joy (a little), I can look a bit deeper into how they gained their status, and how to combat now so we can make some inroads in two years.

[thesetruths]

And my point is they shouldn’t be joyful. As I would not be joyful, beaten-down discriminated-against poor little woman that I am, if a baby-killer like Hillary got in.

And not all are joyful. Perhaps the majority are, but there are many notable exceptions.

So the first black President, if he doesn’t gaffe himself out of the job, is an ant-life socialist. I would be horrified if the group I identified with was defined by those terms.

I’m not going to twist my brain into a pretzel to try to put a pretty face on this. It’s bad and there is no getting around it. I will be in mourning until it is over.

[PaulSouth]

Sorry -you’ve got it exactly backwards - you guys got your fannies kicked to the curb by the voters - conservatism is dead - back to the drawing board for you guys. America finally is awakening from its long dark passage under the criminal Bush Regime
Peace

[sneakers]

No. This is a purge. And it’s a painful thing - but a good thing. Many republicans who lost their seats were RINOS. There is an up-and-coming crowd of young, truly conservative, Republicans. They represent the future of the Republican Party. They are a true cross-section of America. The old-school is finally dying out.

You lack understanding. You only see the stereotypes. You only see what you THINK conservative Republicans are. I woke up several years ago. I realized who REALLY is the party of equality - and it certainly is not democrat.

There are truly good conservatives out there who can lead this country. Conservatives who are not stereotypical white Republicans - just AMERICANS, who are proud to be so - like Allen West, Michael Steel, Alan Keyes and J.C. Watts. Why do Americans of African descent not get behind THEM? They are truly fine men of integrity. Why not them? Is it because they want to unite us and REALLY represent all Americans? Is it because they are “America-centric” and not “Afro-Centric”?

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

The TRUE betrayal was that of the main stream media. They did not do their job.

Likewise the educators.

[RGPII]

"The election of Barack Obama as the first African-American US President could pave the way for the election of the first black Pope, according to a leading black American Catholic.

Wilton Daniel Gregory, 60, the Archbishop of Atlanta, (pic above) said that in the past Pope Benedict XVI had himself suggested that the election of a black pontiff would "send a splendid signal to the world" about the universal Church.

Archbishop Gregory, who in 2001 became the first African American to head the US Bishops Conference, serving for three years, said that the election of Mr Obama was "a great step forward for humanity and a sign that in the United States the problem of racial discrimination has been overcome". Like Mr Obama Archbishop Gregory comes from Chicago, and was previously Bishop of Belleville, Illinois.

...

From London Times Online

We'll see. A story on the President-elect not focusing solely on the abortion issue.

[Kickass Conservative]

OK PaulSouth, I'll play your game.

Since you used the term, criminal Bush Regime, you get to tell all of us what was criminal about President Bush.

And PaulSouth, we require facts, not the usual Liberal drivel that can never pass the smell test.

I assure you, if Criminality could be proven, you and the rest of your Rat friends running Congress would be holding the new Salem Witch Trials as we speak.

The reason Liberalism, well I'll call it what it really is, Democrat Socialism, fooled so many people this election cycle is because BDS was promoted by the Drive By Media and President Bush thought is was below the dignity of the Office to respond to the insanity.

Unfortunately, he was wrong. And his inaction also proves my point that Democrats know people are stupid.

President Bush assumed that a majority of the American people were smart enough to know they were being used by the Media, and it has now cost this Country dearly. With the ascension of the Glorious Marxist Leader, B. Hussein Obama, the United States of America will suffer for a Generation under a true Regime that will destroy our precious Constitutional Rights.

[baa39]

Yes, if not longer. We are still suffering repercussions, socially and economically, and internationally, from the Clinton years!

[Aliska]

Abortion wasn't even that much of an issue; it was way on the back burner; we're supposed to have moved past that; it was all about race, patriotism or the lack of it, security and the economy. I fear they have lost far more than they have gained; race relations could be set back decades because of the ugliness out there what really wouldn't have been an issue after for most Americans.

I feel betrayed, too, and just have to suck it up. I feel betrayed by the very ones I would have fought for their right to life. Abortion and the causes will only get worse. I told my son quite awhile before Nov 4 that I felt I was living through a holocaust, was powerless to do anything about it, and have to live with the knowledge of it the rest of the days of my life. It's almost a constant prayer in my spirit even though my mind may be on something else.

The breakdown in society and the sexual wantonness in society and in the world has led us to this point, and the most innocent pay the price. Sometimes I feel like God has forgotten us in our plight and prayers to put an end to it.

There so much to it, we used to have families, a father the breadwinner, able to support many children, sometimes with great difficulty, with a mother at home. Now couples can hardly afford to even have children unless they have good jobs without relying on the government for assistance. I know that it wasn't idyllic in my earlier years; mothers had nervous breakdowns and went to mental institutions or died young, tragedies happened, but there was relatively little divorce resulting in broken families and troubled children.

What they have done in all their political posturing is make it too difficult for even many children who are born to have a shot at life at all. It's sickening.

[Eagles6]

To them, the election of Barack Obama, self-identified as one of them, is a shining beacon of hope that they will see that dream of America fulfilled. And putting other issues aside for the moment, the election of Barack Obama is historic in racial terms and positive when considered in that light.

So it is really all about race, huh? Doesn't matter that his policies will result in the murder of millions of more black babies.

[Don W]

Thank you for far more eloquently stating what I was trying to communicate, 2112.

Thesetruths: I too am mortified by those who consider the murder of babies to be an act of “convenience” rather than the murder it is.

Wheels within wheels, and more complexity than is warranted seems to be the way the left foments its designs upon an unsuspecting and open world.

We must stand against them, even when we cannot see one another’s outpost, we must trust each other’s judgement.

Right and wrong are self-evident. I know where I stand, as do you, and we’re on the same side, even if we disagree about HOW to forward our ideals sometimes.

Good night and God Bless.

And a VERY LOUD THANK YOU to the Robinsons, who once again went above and beyond their call of duty to restore this magnificent forum.

Bravo-Zulu, huzzah huzzah!

[Salvation]

**My sons and I have met at least five people in the past couple of days that did not know Obama was 1)antigun or 2)antiabortion.**

Don’t you mean
1) anti gun
2) anti life?

[Salvation]

Pray, Lord, it is not Gregory!

[I still care]

You are right. They keep saying, he’s a Christian, so he must be prolife.

I had one person ask me three times, on three separate occaisions, was I sure he wasn’t prolife.

I asked her what makes her think he was a Christian? He had a polygamist muslim father, was raised by an atheist, in a muslim country, and has said muslim prayers are the most beautiful thing he ever heard. She said he converted with a pastor, and I told her I saw the pastor on youtube- he was humping the pulpit.

I don’t normally talk like that but there is no other language to describe it.

[nonsporting]

(1) I think many Americans voted for Obama to show that they are not racist (I agree with Shelby Steele's assessement).

(2) He also has "style" which many are will to accept as superficially suggesting "substance." Of course, what that "substance" is was hidden most of the campaign cycle and only snipits emerged.

(3) And the lessons of socialism are lost on the young who are trained in the socialist worldview (thanks to public education and media).

I wonder what the young will think when the draft is reenstated for men and women and civilian service will be a requirement for those in the age range 18-25.

[SumProVita]

Be ready to fight FOCA.

[SumProVita]

This man will NOT be elected Pope.....and it has NOTHING to do with his race.

[Diva]

This election was NOT about healing, triumph, or a promise etched in gold. This election was not “a great thing.”

Her point is that for many it was. You can call them stupid but at least I can understand a black Protestant in Detroit voting for Obama but I definitely cannot understand a white Catholic in the suburbs.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“We need to empathize with those whose tears of gratitude streamed down their face that they lived to see the day that a black man was elected president. That is not nothing. It is, in fact, a great thing.”

I truly don’t see how one thing is equal to the other. B. Hussein is LUCKY to be alive based upon the fact that his mother CHOSE LIFE. A white Kansas girl knocked up out of wedlock by a black guy from Kenya? You don’t think she considered what her life was going to be like, based on raising that kid alone in Polite White Society?

Funny. He CHOSE LIFE for both of his daughters...but maybe somewhere along the line Michelle had an abortion when the ‘timing just wasn’t right’ for either of their careers and that baby would’ve been a ‘burden’ to them. *Rolleyes*

The guy can’t see the line in the sand, and that is one SCARY attribute in a President, if you ask me! America has been duped and at great expense to all, specifically to the unborn.

[steadfastconservative]

I disagree with this writer. The problem is that Obama was elected precisely because of his color, precisely because he was the first black nominee to run for president. And while he is a good family man, he wasn’t judged on the content of his character or his fitness to be president. He wasn’t judged on his record (which was pretty thin) or on his radical beliefs or radical associations.

Americans elected him because by doing so we “proved” that we are not a racist country. We elected him because he looks and sounds good. Because he promised to bring hope and change. And even though most people knew that he is a radical, pro-abortion leftist, they ignored that because they preferred to believe in the hype surrounding this man and not in the reality.
They just wanted to elect somebody who makes them feel good. Of course, that is what demagogues are good at doing. They are good at making voters feel good so that they can gain power.

If Obama uses the power of his office to uphold the Constitution and to protect the inalienable rights of all Americans, including the unborn, then his presidency will be a good thing. Otherwise, his becoming the first black president will be his only achievement and the only good thing about his presidency.